Improvement in electric lights



2 Sheets-She A. A.. MEYNIALx Improvement in Electrical Lights. No.123,923. Patented Feb.2o,1872.

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2 Sheets--Sheet 2.. A. A. MEYNIAL.

Improvement in Electrical Lights. No. 123,923. L ParentedFeb.2o,18/2.

Umani) STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTE ANNET MEYNIAL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN ELECTRIC LIGHTS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, AUGUs'rE ANNET MEY- NIAL, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Lights, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying dra-win g forming part of this speciication, in which drawing- Figure l represents a sectional side view of this invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same in the plane a', Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectional front view of the same.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

This' inven tion consists in the arrangement of a retrogrademechanism actuated by the armature of the electro-magnet, which also carries the stoplever, in combination with the slides which carry the electrodes, in such a manner that whenever the electrodes approach too closely by the attraction of the armature, not only the reed-motion ofthe electrodes is stopped, but a retrograde movement is imparted to said electrodes, thus keeping their points always at the proper distance to produce a good and uniform light. The lever which forms the principal parts of the retrograde mechanism, and which carries the gear-wheels imparting motion to the electrode-slides, has two arms of unequal length, the long arm to act on the slide ot' the positive electrode, and the short arm to act on the slide of the negative electrode, in such a manner that the retrograde movement of the positive electrode exceeds that of the negative electrode in the proportion in which the consumption ot' the former is greater than that of the latter.

ln the drawing, the letter A designates a case, which is divided into two compartments, one above the other, the lower compartment to contain the electiomagnet B, with its armature (j, and the upper compartment to contain the clock-mo vement D, which serves to impart the feed-motion to the slides E F carrying the electrodes G- H. @ne end of the helix of the electro-magnet is connected by awire, l0, with the positive pole of a battery, while the other end of said helix is held by a screw, l2, in metallic contact with the case A, which case is in metallic contact with the slide F ofthe positive electrode H. The slide E is insulated from the case A, and it is in metallic contact with a stud, I, (also insulated from the case A,) that con nects by a wire, 11, with the negative pole of the battery, so that the electric current passes from the battery to the positive electrode H; thence, through the negative electrode G, slide E, stud I, and wire l1, back to the negative pole of the battery.

In order to produce a bright light, the points ofthe electrodes, which are of carbon or graphite, must be kept at a certain fixed distance apa-rt, and as these electrodes are consumed by the heat they must be fed toward each other. rllhis feed-motion is produced by the clock-movement, which consists principally of a spring contained in a barrel, c, Figs. 2 and 3, which is mounted on an arbor, b, carrying the cog-wheels c d. The large cog-wheels c gear into a similar cog-wheel, f, that meshes into a rack-bar attached to or formed on the positive electrode-slide F, while the small cogwheel d gears in a cog-wheel, c, that imparts motion to the negative electrode-slide E, both the cog-wheels d and c being insulated from the arbors and from the case A, so as to prevent'metallic contact between the negative slide and the case. The wheels e and fare so proportioned that the feed-motion ofthe positive slide is about twice as fast as that of the negative slide, since the positive electrode is consumed twice as fast as the negative, and said wheels are mounted on studs g h in the ends of a double-armed lever, J, which has its fulcrum on the arbor boi' the barrel c, the stud g of the wheel c being' secured in the end of the short, and the stud h of the wheelfin the long arm of said lever. From the wheel cmotion is transmitted by a train of wheels to the tan-wheel t', which is mounted on an arbor, j, and the fans of which are, by preference, made ot' steel, since they act as parts of the stop mechanism.

The lever J, which I term the retrograde le ver, connects by a rod, K, with the rear end of the armature-lever C', and from this armature lever rises an arm, L, which carries the stop Z. A spring, m, which is hitched to the armaturelever G', has a tendency to keep the armature away from the electro-magnet, and to retain the stop l in such a position that it just clears the points of the fan-wheel c'. The tension of the spring mis regulated by a set-screw, u, and elbow-lever o, or in any other desirable manner, so that when the electrodes are at the proper distance. apart, the power of `the. electro-magnet is just sufficient to overcome the power of the spring m, and to move the stop l in the path of the fan-wheel 1'. The feed-motion is thereby momentarily stopped 5 but as the electrodes are consumed and the distance between their points is increased, the power of the electro-magnet is decreased, the spring m throws the stop Zout of the path ofthe fan- Wheel, and the reed-motion goes on. If the points of the electrodes should approach too closely, or if, from some cause, the power ofy the electro-magnet should momentarily increase to such an extent that it attracts the armature with its full force and to such a degrec that the pins p in the armature-lever strike the heads of the electro-magnet, then the retrograde lever J is turned on its fulcrum and the positive slideis raised, while the negative slide is depressed. By this motion a slight retrograde movement is imparted to the electrodes, bringing their points at the proper distance apart, but as soon as the distance between the points of the electrodes is still further increased as these points are consumed,

the armature falls back from the electro-magl net, and the feed-motion progresses, as before stared. The proportion between the arms of the retrograde lever J is such that the retrograde motion imparted to the positive electrodc is about twice as much as that imparted to the negative electrode to preserve the proper relation between the electrodes and this motion imparted to them. by the slides E F.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent. is-

1. The retrograde mechanism, actuated by the armature ofthe electromagnet, which carries the stop-lever, in combination with the slides which carry the electrodes, substantial- 1y as herein shown and described.

2. The retrograde-lever, havin g two arms of unequal length, the longer arm to produce the retrograde l'novement ofthe positive electrode and the shorter arm that of the negative electrode, so-as to compensate` for the increased consumption of the positive electrode, substa-ntially as set forth.

This speciication signed by me this 29th day of January, 1872.

A. A. MEYNIAL.

Witnesses:

W. HAUFF, PIERRE OoURVoz. 

